Professional Game Match Officials Limited chief Howard Webb says the decision to disallow Josh King’s goal for Fulham in their defeat by Chelsea last weekend was a “misjudgement”.
King, 18, scored after 22 minutes only for it to be chalked off following a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) intervention for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.
Muniz was deemed to have stepped on the foot of Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah while trying to turn him near the halfway line.
Fulham manager Marco Silva said it was “unbelievable” the goal was disallowed.
Chelsea went on to win the game 2-0 thanks to Joao Pedro’s header and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty which came after another contentious VAR decision that went against the visitors and left Silva fuming.
After the game Michael Salisbury was stood down as VAR official for Sunday’s match between Liverpool and Arsenal.
Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up – a television programme which analyses VAR decisions from previous gameweeks – PGMOL chief refereeing officer Webb acknowledged the error.
Webb said officials should “only be taking goals away” when the “evidence is very clear” and that was the guidance they provide for officials.
“It wasn’t controversial, it was wrong. We’ve established some principles in terms of how we officiate in the Premier League and how we use VAR,” Webb added.
“They sit around a high threshold for penalising contact, aiding the flow, rhythm and tempo of the game. We’ve also established a high bar for intervention with VAR.
